In this past year, Michaela Paetsch on 2 occasions has had the honor to perform for
the President of France and the President of Switzerland!!
Our evening presents a wonderful variety of 3 centuries of music
for violin and piano with Michaela Paetsch and Abe Minzer.
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The first half will feature the:
Sonata in C Minor by the great Baroque master, J. S Bach, and the
Sonata in A minor by the immortal Romantic composer, Robert Schumann.
Our second half, after dessert 🙂 , will begin with a
In this past year, Michaela Paetsch on 2 occasions has had the honor to perform for
the President of France and the President of Switzerland!!
Our evening presents a wonderful variety of 3 centuries of music
for violin and piano with Michaela Paetsch and Abe Minzer.
—
The first half will feature the:
Sonata in C Minor by the great Baroque master, J. S Bach, and the
Sonata in A minor by the immortal Romantic composer, Robert Schumann.
Our second half, after dessert 🙂 , will begin with a set of delightful lighter
classical works by Clara Schumann, Edward Grieg and Fritz Kreisler.
The program then continues with a set of old jazz standards, Edith Piaf and others, sure to have you humming along.
And then our final grouping features both lyric and exciting
Latin jazz numbers by Piazzolla,
and concluding with a lively bossa nova arrangement of Fly Me to The Moon.
PROGRAM
Sonata No. 4 in C minor for Violin and Piano, BWV 1017 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750)
I. Largo
II. Allegro
III. Adagio
IV. Allegro
Sonata No. 1 in A minor for Violin and Piano. Opus 105 Robert Schumann (1810 – 1856)
I. Mit leidenschaftlichem Ausdruck
II. Allegretto
III. Lebhaft
Intermission
(light classical)
Allegretto from Three Romances, Opus 22 Clara Schumann (1819 – 1896)
Waltz in A Minor from Lyric Pieces, Opus 12 Edvard Grieg (1843 – 1907)
Aucassin and Nicolette Fritz Kreisler (1875 – 1962)
(old sentimental jazz tunes)
La Vie en Rose Edith Piaf (1915 – 1963)
Smoke Gets in your Eyes Jerome Kern (1885 – 1945)
The Shadow of your Smile Johnny Mandel (b. 1925)
Lullaby of Birdland George Shearing (1919 – 2011)
(Latin style jazz)
A Day in the Life of a Fool Luiz Bonfa (1922 – 2001)
Oblivion Astor Piazzolla (1921 – 1992)
Libertango
Fly Me to the Moon Bart Howard (1915 – 2004)
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Bios
Violinist Michaela Paetsch, her playing has been described as “gloriously charged…beguilingly velvety” (The Strad). Her captivating artistry is celebrated for the soaring vitality and the personal commitment she show her audiences. She grew up in a musical family on a mountain in Colorado Springs. “Making music and performing with my family chamber ensemble was the most important part of my development as a performing artist,” Michaela says
Michaela has garnered international attention and numerous awards, including first prize in the G.B. Dealey International Competition, a bronze medal in the Queen Elisabeth International Competition, and the prize for the Russian Composition by Juri Falik at the International Tchaikovsky Competition. Michaela has performed as soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician in the major musical centers of the world, including New York’s Carnegie Hall and Avery Fischer Hall, and the Library of Congress (in Washington, D.C.). She has played in major music festivals such as Marlboro (Vermont), Davos (Switzerland), Brandenburg Summer Concerts (Berlin), Banff (Canada), Boulder Bach Festival, “Mostly Mozart” in New York, the Rhein-Sieg and the Niederrhein Chamber Music Festivals (both in Germany).
She has collaborated with major orchestras throughout the world, including the NHK Symphony Orchestra (Japan), the Philharmonics of Osaka (Japan), Seoul (Korea), Liége (Belgium) and Bergen (Norway); the National Orchestra of Belgium, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, the Residentie Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and the BBC Symphony,among others. She has collaborated with conductors such as Kent Nagano, Dmitri Kitajenko, Horst Stein, and Myung-Whun Chung.
Her extensive discography began with the 1987 recording of the 24 Caprices by Niccolo Paganini for TELDEC, making her the first female performer to record the complete work. Die Zeit, a German newspaper, described the disc as a “sensation in the history of record-making.” Discs for TUDOR include “Brahms: 21 Hungarian Dances”, “La Capricieuse” and the Sonatillen and 6 Morceaux by Joachim Raff with Eric Le Van, piano.
Michaela, along with the Original Ensemble Prima Carezza, recently performed for Simonetta Sommaruga to celebrate her election as President of the Federal Council of Switzerland for 2015; and for an official state visit welcoming French President Francois Hollande.
Michaela made her orchestral debut at the age of twelve with the Colorado Springs Symphony (now the Colorado Springs Philharmonic). In addition to subsequent performances with the Colorado Springs Symphony, she performed as soloist with orchestras through out Colorado including the Denver Symphony (now the Colorado Symphony Orchestra), the Denver Young Artists Orchestra, the Pueblo Symphony, and the National Repertory Orchestra.
Michaela plays a beautiful Gaetano Pasta violin made in 1704. “I cherish its dark sensuous beauty and amazing variety of colors – it reacts so well in all conditions,” Michaela says.
Michaela resides in Ligerz, Switzerland, and travels frequently to her native Colorado. For more info, please visit: http://www.michaelapaetsch.com
Pianist Abe Minzer earned a master’s degree in Piano Performance from the Peabody Conservatory, a doctorate in music at West Virginia University, and has taught at Goucher College in Baltimore, MD. He plays concerts throughout the US, and has appeared as piano soloist in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major with the Pittsburgh Symphony.
Currently, Abe Minzer teaches piano, music history and music theory at University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Also, Dr. Minzer is on the faculty at Pikes Peak Community College where he teaches Private Piano, Group Piano, Music Theory, and serves as staff pianist/accompanist.
Dr. Abe Minzer often performs works of living composers, including world premieres of compositions by Jorge Cardoso, Jim Bosse and Ofer Ben-Amots. For more information, please visit: http://ClassicallyAlive.com For more information on Abe Minzer – CDs, samples, reviews and comments, please visit: http://abeminzer.com
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Under the sponsorship of the Pikes Peak Arts Council, Classically Alive hosts over 60 musicians and other artists, and features diverse monthly at-home music/arts salon concerts which include dinner and drinks. Founder, director, and pianist, Dr. Abe Minzer performs along with many top musicians of the Pikes Peak region, as well as renowned visiting artists on the national and international scene. Classically Alive hosts a wide range of styles including classical, contemporary, popular styles, jazz, and world music.
For more information, please visit: http://ClassicallyAlive.com
Classically Alive is thrilled with the recent acquisition of a 9-foot Bechstein concert grand piano, an instrument of highest quality. A tremendous thank you goes to both Elvie Davis and Diane Petersen for making the opportunity possible. Also, a special thank you goes to Fisher Piano Movers and their caring team for their most expert and professional work in moving the Bechstein to its new Classically Alive home.
Please have a listen to internationally renowned
Swiss violinist, Michaela Paetsch on video here:
and dozens of her great and varied music links at:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=michaela+paetsch
